The new European migration pact enters into force without transparency or legal pathways
NOVACT, together with Irídia, Algorace and Amnesty International, has warned that the European Pact on Migration and Asylum and the new European deportation regulation will mark a setback for human rights: more detentions, more deportations, possible detention of minors, racial profiling, and the use of artificial intelligence in migration control. The organisations also denounce the lack of transparency from the Spanish government regarding implementation plans.
The European Pact on Migration and Asylum (EPMA) is about to enter into force. It does so in a context where several member states are already pushing to tighten migration policies further, and without the Spanish government having publicly explained how it will implement the Pact or guaranteed civil society participation in the process.
On 28 May, NOVACT raised these concerns at a joint press conference with Irídia, Algorace and the European Office of Amnesty International at the Col·legi de Periodistes in Barcelona. Clara Calderó, from NOVACT, was direct: “The pact has a clearly symbolic component that reinforces a security-driven view of migration — it presents migration as a threat in the social imagination through the discourse of illegality and criminalisation, and represents a regression that undermines the rule of law and normalises institutional racism.”
A coercive and punitive deportation regulation
Alongside the EPMA, the new European deportation regulation is advancing. Olivia Sundberg, from Amnesty International, described it as “coercive and punitive” and warned that measures such as the creation of return hubs in third countries could lead to arbitrary detention and serious human rights violations. Among the most concerning measures: the extension of migration detention to up to two years and the possible detention of minors.
The proposal has been fast-tracked without an impact assessment and in a context of opacity, despite opposition from more than 250 civil society organisations and United Nations experts.
Racial profiling and artificial intelligence
Youssef M. Ouled, from Algorace, denounced that racial profiling remains a structural practice within the police system. Surveillance generates large volumes of data being used to train artificial intelligence systems and crime prediction algorithms, reinforcing hypervigilance over specific neighbourhoods and entrenching dynamics of racial criminalisation.
Maite Daniela Lo Coco, from Irídia, warned that the entry into force of the EPMA will lead to an increase in detentions, deportations and surveillance mechanisms, particularly through the systematic collection of biometric data and facial images at borders.
More than a hundred organisations demanded rejection
Civil society pressure is not new. Months before the EPMA entered into force, AlgoRace, Irídia and NOVACT led a letter signed by more than 110 anti-racist, social and human rights organisations from across Spain, addressed to Members of the European Parliament, warning of the impact of the European Return Regulation on fundamental rights and calling for its rejection. At the same time, the same organisations, together with CEAR and Red Acoge, sent a letter to the Presidency of the Spanish Government requesting that Spain oppose the proposal.